Kirsten Powers: President, not emperor, Obama

Once upon a time, Barack Obama’s harsh and deserved criticism of President George W. Bush’s executive overreach was a popular campaign applause line at Democratic rallies. Now, he is facing down a threatened lawsuit from House Speaker John Boehner challenging the president’s abuse of executive power.

Obama has dismissed the suit as a “stunt,” which is partly true.

The convenient election year timing isn’t a coincidence. But that a public legal battle might benefit Republicans doesn’t mean the GOP suit is devoid of merit.

When asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos about Boehner’s claim that the president had exceeded his executive authority, Obama retorted, “I’m not going to apologize for trying to do something while they’re doing nothing.” He went on to explain that his administrative actions regarding immigration were OK because the GOP wouldn’t work with him and “the majority of the American people want immigration reform done.”

Notice that the former constitutional law professor did not make a substantive legal case in defense of his executive power grabs. He merely stated that what he did was popular, ergo his extra-constitutional actions are fine. A more reassuring answer would include explaining how his actions are consistent with the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has seemed less than impressed with Obama’s constitutional claims. On June 26, the justices tossed his attempt to unilaterally declare the Senate in recess so he could appoint officials to the National Labor Relations Board. Another of the administration’s constitutional arguments was rebuked the same day when a unanimous Supreme Court ruled against a Massachusetts law creating 35-foot-limited-speech-buffer zones outside abortion clinics. The Obama administration had argued in support of this government-created zone where abortion supporters were allowed to speak but anti-abortion activists were not.

So it is with executive power. Obama says he has executive power to invade Libya without congressional approval. Obama acts as judge, jury and executioner in assassinating American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, and declares it constitutional. Considering his track record before the Supreme Court, all these claims should be viewed with extreme suspicion.

Liberals who obsessed over President Bush’s abuses of executive power are suspiciously silent now, or worse, defend the same behavior they found abhorrent in a Republican.

It’s up to debate as to whether Boehner has standing for this lawsuit. If he does, count me as an unlikely supporter.

Like a handful of liberal voices, at the same time I support most of Obama’s domestic policy initiatives, including those he accomplished through executive action, I can’t support the way he has put them in place. We elected Obama president, not emperor.